A Maidan activist sits on a barricade at the entrance of Kiev's Independence Square on March 1, 2014. / Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images

by Olga Rudenko, Special for USA TODAY

by Olga Rudenko, Special for USA TODAY

KIEV, Ukraine - Protesters who spent months on Independence Square begging the West for help are again asking for assistance, a week after ousting the nation's president.

"We need the international community to interfere and help resolve this issue peacefully," said Liudmila Mykytiuk of Kiev, adding the West is Ukraine's only chance to prevent violence in Crimea. "It is still possible, if only they hurry up," she said.

Russian lawmakers in the parliament's upper house authorized sending Russian military troops to Ukraine on Saturday following a request by President Vladimir Putin, who said the move was to "protect Russian citizens in Ukraine."

Preceding that request were movements by Russian army vehicles in Crimea, where Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based. Such troop movements violate an agreement with Ukraine that allows Russia to station troops there, Ukrainian officials said.

At the same time, unidentified men armed with machine guns seized the Crimean parliament, main TV station and two airports. All flights were canceled and the airspace was closed.

Kiev's reaction to the beginning of Russian military intervention in Crimea came fast.

"We see such actions of Russia as a direct threat to Ukraine's sovereignty," said interim president and parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov, who said the armed men who seized buildings in Simferopol were Russian troops.

The Ukrainian parliament will meet early Sunday morning to decide whether to impose a state of emergency and review the deal with Russia on its Black Fleet based in Sevastopol.

Unrest started in Crimea earlier this week following a power transfer in Kiev, where three months of street protests resulted in the ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition taking over the government.

On Saturday in Kiev, thousands continued to protest in Independence Square, as well as in front of the Russian Embassy, where demonstrators held signs reading: "Hands off, Russia."

Some bemoaned what they termed a weak response to the events - both from Kiev and internationally.

"The lack of politicians' reaction - Ukrainian and especially those from abroad - is very disappointing," said Olga Marshalko, 24, who has been a regular at the Maidan protests since they began in November. "Russia attacks now because we are not stable, they waited for a moment like this."

Meanwhile, the Migration Service of Russian Federation claimed that some 143,000 Ukrainian citizens have asked Russia for asylum in the past two weeks, a claim locals in the western part of the country say is merely propaganda.

On Saturday, interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said Russia is using a similar plan to one in 2008, when Russia sent troops to Georgia to support separatists in Georgia's South Ossetia region.

"Everyone understands that the Russian people don't want this war - it is Russian authorities playing their game," said Veniamin Fenin, 30, an anti-government protester in Kiev.

"Now Russia is doing what it always does - Russia has always tried to grab as much land as possible, especially when it could grab it from a weaker country that couldn't get back at Russia," he added. "History is full of examples."